Coming Out of the Dark Into the Light

The Williamson County Historical Society (Tennessee) is proud to present “Coming Out of the Darkness,” a history of the Black communities of Triune, Kirkland, and College Grove, told by individuals who grew up there. Members of the Society encouraged Elaine Bolyejack Bell and Marie Ridley Ogilvie to canvass the eastern section of Williamson County, asking for personal experiences of those who attended Kirkland School, to collect family histories, and to donate photographs of families and individuals. This “grassroots” effort resulted in a 300-page documentary of life in these communities, including photos of Black schools before the 1954 consolidation with the new Kirkland School (1-8), and histories of the Black churches in these three communities. A vital contribution to the educational history of Williamson County is the revelation of personal accounts from a Black perspective on the 1967 school integration. The Society encourages other Black communities in the county to follow suit.

Author Biography

After many years in the classroom and as a school librarian, Rick Warwick now applies his energy to collecting the history of Williamson County. Considering himself a better gleaner of facts and tidbits of history than a writer, he has compiled a shelf of published works on Williamson County over the years. As publication chairman of the Williamson County Historical Society since 1990, he has published the annual journal, as well as projects of his own choosing. This body of work includes: Leiper’s Fork and Surrounding Communities (1999), Leiper’s Fork and Family Albums (2000), Historical Markers of Williamson County-A Pictorial Guide (1999), Williamson County-In Black & White-A Racial History (2000), Williamson County-Out There In The First District (2001), Meet Me At Chapman’s Pie Wagon (2002), Triune-Two Centuries at the Crossroads (2004), Williamson County-More Than A Good Place to Live (2005), Williamson County-The Civil Wars Revealed Through Letters, Diaries and Memoirs (2006), Freedom and Work in the Reconstruction Era: The Freedmen’s Bureau Labor Contracts of Williamson County (2006), Williamson County-Civil War Veterans-Their Reunions and Photographs (2007), Wish You Were Here-A Postcard Tour of Franklin & Williamson County (2007), and Williamson County & the Civil War-As Seen Through the Female Experience (2008), Portraits of Williamson County (2010), Historical Markers of Williamson County, Tennessee Revised (2010).Rick graduated from Middle Tennessee State University (B.S. 1969 and MAT 1971). He served on the Tennessee Historical Commission from 2005 to 2015. He volunteers as historian for the Heritage Foundation of Franklin and Williamson County. In January 2017, the Williamson County Commission appointed him County Historian, replacing Mrs. Virginia McDaniel Bowman, who had served that post since 1972. He has served on the following boards: Heritage Foundation, Carter House, Carnton, African American Heritage Society of Franklin and Williamson County, and Franklin’s Charge.Since 1975, Rick and his wife Elaine have lived in an 1831 cedar log home reconstructed on Warwick’s Knob off Southall Road. Since moving to Franklin in 1970, Rick has collected locally-made furniture and items related to Williamson County history with noted success. He has collected over 15,000 photographs related to Williamson County.Rick Warwick, appointed Williamson County Historian in 2017, and while not formally an employee of the Heritage Foundation, we work closely together as he maintains his office at the Heritage Foundation’s LeHew Magid Big House for Historic Preservation. He can be reached in his office or by email: rwarwick@williamsonheritage.org. Ovie Elaine Boleyjack Bell was born to George and Annie Boleyjack of Triune, Tennessee. I am the fourteenth of fifteen children. I attended Kirkland Elementary School from first to eighth grade. I also attended Natchez High School for one year before being transferred to College Grove High School during the integration, from which I graduated in 1970. Addie Marie (Ridley) Ogilvie lives in Trine, Tennessee. She is a Born-Again Christian. She is the second child of her parents, James Ridley and Araminta (Shaw) Ridley. She was married to Frank James Ogilvie Jr for forty-three years. She has two daughters, Valerie and Dr. Candace Ogilvie, one son, and one daughter-in-law, Frank and Sara Ogilvie; and four granddaughters, Libbie, Addie, Kennedie, and Frankie. She attended Kirkland School, Natchez High, and College Grove, as well as Draughn’s Business College. She is a very active Member of Green Grove Primitive Baptist Church as well as in the Nolensville, Triune, and College Grove communities. She enjoys singing and sharing her faith with others.